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Security

Frontex contributes to dismantling the criminal networks through
gathering information from debriefing activities with migrants and
passing them on to national authorities and Europol. Frontex can also
collect personal data of persons suspected of people smuggling,
terrorism and other cross-border crimes, which it shares with national
authorities, Europol and other European agencies.

In its operations, Frontex deploys debriefers – officers who conduct
voluntary interviews with migrants to collect information about the
smuggling networks. The agency shares this information with the national
authorities of the countries hosting our operations for them to launch
relevant investigations and arrests. It is important to underline that
Frontex does not have the mandate to run investigations either on the
territory of the EU or non-EU countries.

Frontex has been active in
assisting EU Member States to track down document fraud. Earlier this year it
established the Centre of Excellence for Combatting Document Fraud to fulfil
the agency’s expanded role in combatting cross border crime.

For years Frontex has deployed
document fraud experts in joint operations at the EU external borders and
supported the process of the identification and registration of migrants in
hotspots. In operations run by Frontex, hundreds of fraudulent documents are
detected every year.

Highlighting the agency’s enhanced role in combatting cross
border crime, this year Frontex launched the Centre of Excellence for
Combatting Document Fraud to support Member States and address the threats to
EU’s security connected with document fraud.

The Centre’s primary task is to provide support for
combatting document fraud in joint operations. Frontex developed a reference
manual for border guards containing images of passports, identity cards, and
visas, to help them determine whether the document in front of them is genuine.

The Centre of Excellence for Combatting Document Fraud will
also contribute to the work of a number of Frontex units, including risk
analysis, training, as well as research and innovation. In turn, the Centre
will improve the operational response to specific threats observed at the
external border based on information from those units.

Frontex, in cooperation with the EU member states, plays an important
role in fighting terrorism and other cross-border crimes. The hundreds
of specialised border guard officers taking part in Frontex operations
do this through screening, registration, document checks and
intelligence gathering at the borders. All of these actions support
member states in identifying terrorism suspects or persons of interest.
Frontex also regularly provides intelligence to Europol.

Checks
at the external borders remain one of the main safeguards of the
Schengen area and significantly contribute to guaranteeing the long-term
security of the EU and its citizens.